But then, Sign ‘O The Times would utterly destroy Bad…Īnd as we are thinking of Prince, may I direct you to the warmest tribute I’ve read, by the British music journalist Simon Price on The Quietus. In fairness, I expect Off The Wall would beat Dirty Mind or Controversy handily. It’s like Brazil against Germany in a World Cup semi-final. If Baby I’m A Star doesn’t get you moving, you might as well check yourself into a mortuary. Plus, I have the mental image of Prince’s hand actions and that beatific smile when he performs the song in the film. I love Human Nature dearly, but I Would Die 4 U is so utterly joyous.

Billie Jean gives us dancability When Doves Cry gives us layers and layers of genius. The heavyweight clash, and it’s a no brainer. I love Darling Nikki (and how it sent Tipper Gore over the edge), but Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo… With a heavy heart, I give it to Beat It. Jackson’s excellent title track meets Purple Rain‘s least strong track (still, Computer Blue’s guitars!). Prince goes falsetto on our asses and then climaxes with that explosion of emotion. Michael sings this like a nursery rhyme and climaxes with the “I’m a lover not a fighter” line while he “argues” with Macca. Prince wins this already in the intro with those great drums and then those strings later in the song. MJ delivers a decent filler track that is competently produced. I posted two mixes of songs on which Hal Blaine played, with some background on him, in 2014. Hal Blaine was the fulcrum of The Wrecking Crew, that great collective of LA-based session musicians that played on an incredible number of pop classics, backing anything from Pet Sounds to The Partridge Family.īlaine’s death comes just four months after that of bassist Joe Osborne, which means that the trio of musical masterminds who helped Simon & Garfunkel create masterpieces like Bridge Over Troubled Water or The Boxer are now gone (keyboardist Larry Knechtel die in 2009). Yesterday we lost a giant in music history, one of the greatest drummers in pop, a hitmaker, a true legend – and most people don’t even know his name.

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